Duke Basketball Champ Likely to Return for Playoff Opener

Former Duke basketball guard and 2015 national champ Grayson Allen missed the Milwaukee Bucks' last four games of the regular season while recovering from a sprained right ankle that he sustained during a home win over the Philadelphia 76ers on April 2.

But it looks like the 26-year-old is good to go for No. 1 seed Milwaukee's home outing against the No. 8 seed Miami Heat in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series at 5:30 p.m. ET Sunday (TNT).

The Bucks' injury report is blank, according to South Florida Sun Sentinel's Iran Winderman. And Allen, who drew starts in 70 of the 72 games he played this season, has participated fully in the last couple of practices.

Allen, now in his second year in Milwaukee and fifth year as a pro following his four-year Duke basketball career, averaged 10.4 points across his career-high 27.4 minutes per game in the regular season. It marked his third straight campaign with a double-digit scoring average.

Of course, it's worth noting that he did so for the squad that finished with the best record in the league at 58-24.

There's no guarantee Grayson Allen will get the starting nod on Sunday. Assuming he does play, though, it'll be his 20th career playoff game.

Last year, the former No. 21 overall draft pick appeared in all 12 of the Bucks' playoff games, averaging 8.3 points while shooting 39.6 percent beyond the arc, before their season ended at the hands of the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

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